Category Archives: Australian News

Japanese Cinematic Greats retrospective at BAPFF

Posted on October 29, 2016 by Deni

The Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival program came out this week, and a read-em-and-weep-for-joy feature has got to be the Transcending the Inevitable: Japanese Screen Legends and their Works with Masters strand. It’s a mouthful of a title but considering the cinematic feast in store it’s probably warranted. 11 of some of the very best post war cinema from Ozu, Mizoguchi, and Naruse featuring their on-screen muses Setsuko Hara (upon whom Satoshi Kon’s fantastic Millennium Actress was partly based), Kinuyo … (read more)

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Melbourne: The Chinatown Cinema Returns!

Posted on November 23, 2014 by Justin

(OK, so this post is a bit late, and I apologise — I was reminded that I’d forgotten to write about this today, and thought I’d better get to it!)

A couple of months ago several people (thanks, guys and girls!) wrote in on Facebook and via email to let us know that Melbourne’s Chinatown Cinema has reopened and is showing Hong Kong films again! This is tremendous news: several of us were regulars there back in its heyday, and … (read more)

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Fairytales and Fables at GoMA

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Deni

Ooooh! Relevant to our interests, the Cinematheque at GoMA comes through for Brissie fans again, with several Asian films as part of their just released program, Fairytales and Fables, running from January 10 until March 30.

The more than awesome programme (pretty sure I’ll be doing some extracurricular viewing this time too) includes Kim Jee-Woon’s A Tale of Two Sisters, Bong Man-Dae’s Cinderella, Yim Pil-Sung’s Hansel and Gretel, Studio Ghibli’s delightful Ponyo, and Richard … (read more)

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Madman bringing Miyazaki’s ‘The Wind Rises’ to cinemas in 2014

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Justin

A press release came in on the wire today from our friends at Madman, announcing their acquisition of The Wind Rises (風立ちぬ, Kaze Tachinu), which famed Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki has said will be his final film.

The story follows an aircraft engineer in pre-war Japan, loosely based on Jiro Horikoshi, the designer of the Zero fighter plane used in WWII. It’s an interesting choice of subject matter for the staunchly pacifist director, who has recently spoken out against … (read more)

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‘36th Chamber’ (and its sequel) on iTunes

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Justin

In the early 2000s, Celestial Pictures in HK bought the rights to the Shaw Brothers library of films (more than 760 titles from the ’50s through to the ’90s) and started trickling them out on DVD beginning in 2002, which was about when I was introduced to Asian cinema by HC’s Alison. I caught a couple of them, beginning with King Hu’s wonderful Come Drink With Me — still one of my favourite films — and got hooked, buying a … (read more)

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QLD news – GCFF and Supanova on again!

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Deni

That’s right; Supanova and the Gold Coast Film Festival are coming in April, and there are some awesome events in the to-do list that South East QLD fans really should try and get to!

Doomsday Book (2012) – fresh from the awesome Toronto After Dark film festival, this Korean sci-fi anthology film is about zombies and self-aware robots and the end of the world, and it sounds so awesome I am already there.

Mamoru Hosada’s Wolf Children – sure it … (read more)

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BIFF schedule is out

Posted on October 27, 2012 by Deni

I’m a bit slow on the uptake at the moment – work’s been slamming me. But now that I’m back on track (more or less) there’s one bright spot in my sky – the Brisbane International Film Festival’s 2012 program guide is on the streets and there’s a ton of awesome relevant-to-your-interests stuff to see.

Featuring in their massive World Cinema program is Miike’s Hara-kiri, USA/HK production The Man with the Iron Fists (with Russell Crowe?!), Kim Ki-duk’s Pieta … (read more)

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OzAsia Adelaide

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Deni

Sorry? How the hell did this almost slip by us? The OzAsia Festival, starting tomorrow in Adelaide and running until the 30th of September, has an amazing grab-bag of Asian cinema screening. Kore-eda’s I Wish! Pan-ek Ratanaruang’s Headshot! War of the Arrows, and that’s just to name a few. And I won’t even talk about the Moon Lantern Parade or the Tan Dun multimedia symphony, except to say JEALOUS! Guys. Why are you still sitting … (read more)

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